Illustrative photo (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Twenty-two embassies and international organisations in Vietnamwill sign a code of conduct on plastic pollution prevention on June 4 to markWorld Environment Day (June 5), according to the Canadian Embassy in Vietnam.
Initiatedby the Canadian Embassy, the campaign aims to raise public awareness of adverseimpacts of plastic pollution and calling for changes in behaviours,institutions and policies, thus helping reduce plastic waste in Vietnam.
Theexpected signatories are the Asian Development Bank, the embassies of Austria,Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands,New Zealand, Norway, Slovakia, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, the US,the EU, 16 agencies, foundations, programmes and offices of the UN, and theWorld Bank.
Theywill commit to assessing single-use plastic products in their offices andencouraging their staff and partners to reduce plastic products.
Followingthe ceremony, there will be a roundtable workshop on plastic pollution, duringwhich policy makers, business executives, scholars and environmental activistswill discuss challenges to plastic waste reduction and propose measures toeffectively address the issue.
TheCanadian Embassy said that about 300 million tonnes of plastics is producedglobally each year, half of which is used to create single-use products likebags, bottles and straws. One million plastic bags are used every one minute.
According to earthday.org, 8.3 billion metrictonnes of plastic has been produced since plastic was introduced in the 1950s.The amount of plastic produced in a year is roughly the same as the entireweight of humanity. 91 percent of plastics waste isn’t recycled. And since mostplastics don’t biodegrade in any meaningful sense, all that plastic waste couldexist for hundreds or even thousands of years.
Of note, 8 million metric tonnes of plasticwinds up in the oceans each year. That’s enough trash to cover every foot ofcoastline around the world with five full trash bags of plastic compoundingevery year.
A recent international survey revealed thatVietnam is one of the five countries in the world discharging the most plasticwaste, with about 1.8 million tonnes dumped each year. -VNA
VNA
